Adventures Along the Road to the Sand

 Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights and choose love and light.

If you read my June post then you know I prefer Winter to Summer and Longer Nights and Shorter Days to the opposite. Knowing that, you might ascertain that I’d prefer Snow to Sand.

Actually I don’t prefer snow to sand. As you can see, I do however prefer the ocean as it's featured in my website banner. And no, that's not me in the picture.

Although from my upstairs windows in the winter when the leaves are off my neighbors’ trees I can see the top of

Mt. Hood with
Rose City Golf Course
in the foreground

Breathing in the ocean air calms.

Seeing the light shadows play on the mountains inspires.

I am blessed to live a bit more than an hour from Mt. Hood (closer to two with the way traffic is these days).

While I’m also two hours from the Oregon Coast, my favorite area is the Central Coast and that’s a little more than three away (and that also depends on traffic).

I remember the days driving to the coast before the highways were built. Winding two lane roads with careening log trucks, farmers towing threshers or loads of hay and the folks with trucks with campers and pulling boats with lines of cars behind them. No safe place to pass for miles!

One memorable trip I made to visit one of my adoptive families out along the road to the coast was adventurous! The farm truck in front of me carried the detritus from harvested corn. He wasn’t going very far, or that’s my excuse for him. No tarp covered the load. Within seconds my windshield was plastered with corn husks and corn milk. Windshield wipers were struggling. Of course I dropped way back.

All my efforts to clean my windshield using the windshield wipers and spray were minimal. I had some visibility but not much.

On a narrow, two lane country road there was no place to pull over and do what? I didn’t travel with hoses, buckets. Creeping along I made it to the family home. The kids came out to greet me and before I knew it, a car washing brigade had been formed.

My car was pristine when I left a couple hours later.

And where did that story come from?

Memories of that drive that if I’d continued would have taken me to Lincoln City, Oregon and a bit further Fogarty Creek State Park and a bit further from there Depoe Bay. My favorite places along the Oregon Coast.

I don’t spend time walking in the sand*** or wading in the ocean any more, I much prefer sitting and watching the waves crash upon the rocks, checking for the telltale spout of the resident grey whale and breathing in the ozone ladened ocean air.

***Reminds me of the time a friend showed me a hidden cove loaded with agates. The tide was coming in and I had my sweatshirt off and tied into a sling/bag. It and all of my pockets were full with agates. Remember, the tide was coming in!

“Oh, look at that one!” I’d shout and dash into the rising water to capture one more prize totally forgetting, in the rush of accomplishment as I snagged another stone, that I still had a steep path up the side of a cliff to climb to get to my car.

My biggest agate and
a bowl of smaller ones.

In hindsight, I can see how the “fever” did and still does take hold of people searching for gold, silver, turquoise, copper mines or whatever they see as having value.

The friend who’d showed me this place was beginning to panic because I kept going after “just one more”. Obviously we made it safely out of that cove before it was inundated by the ocean.

Safely at the top with prizes tucked away in the trunk of my car, I promised myself I’d go back again for more treasure. And yet every time I tried to find the narrow pathway to the beach, I missed it. Even though I looked for it for a couple of years, I never did find it.

I do still have those agates. Most I polished and used in making wreaths. I’ve a jar of them nearby and every time I look at them I remember the intense excitement of collecting agates in the hidden cove.

Yes, I’m conflicted. I do not like hot much less humid weather and I no longer collect agates because I no longer walk in the sand. And I do not like to shovel snow (I’ve a wonderful neighbor who usually does that for me). I still prefer cool even cloudy and overcast days that invite me to snuggle up to my computer and put words on the page.

You can find all of my books at your favorite e-book vendor. Be sure to ask your local library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

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© 2023 Judith Ashley